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BT customers have been able to get Sky Sports channels since 1 August

BT Vision has been hit by hundreds of complaints from customers unable to view Sky Sports channels.

BT has confirmed that a few hundred customers have experienced a technical problem getting Sky Sports.

"It was a technical fault with the viewing card, which was quickly resolved and incidentally also affected Top Up TV," said a BT spokesperson.

BT said the problem had now been fixed and that the customers involved were being compensated.

"They will get one month's free rental, which will be worth £6.99 or £11.99 depending on their package. We apologise for any inconvenience to customers." added the BT spokesperson.

The company also added that the number affected was a small proportion of its total customer numbers.

There have also been reports that some people have not received their viewing cards in the post so will miss the first matches of the season.

BT told the BBC it had not had any complaints regarding this, but would be investigating the issue raised.

One BT customer, Colin, told the Gabby Logan show on Radio 5 live that he was left without the service for a whole week.

"During the whole of last week ESPN wouldn't actually work. It just said to insert the viewing card. I phoned up so many times to say the same thing's happening. It would work for 10 minutes and then it would freeze again."

He added: "I've been on the BT forums and it sounded like the whole country was having the same problem because I was told it was just in the local area."

Until July this year, the only way to watch Sky Sports channels on TV was through Sky or Virgin Media. But from 1 August, BT customers have been able to get Sky Sports without subscribing to Sky.

The deal follows a ruling by Ofcom that said BSkyB must sell its premium sports content to rivals at regulated prices.